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Eleutheria
"The Schizics are one enormous fallacy; the masses live in poverty while preaching of wealth; ideas flow freely while being controlled and directed; there is no authority, yet the residents of Vanderbilt pull strings and the puppet acts. By all means, it should be imploding on itself, but somehow, they've built a society that seems to defy all logic." - Societies of the World, L. Almsberg Eleutheria'', ''frequently referred to as the Free Economic Zone of Eleutheria, or colloquially as the Schizics, is autonomous confederation of communities that is known for it's exceptionally laissez-faire government and advanced technology, as well as the fact that a majority of the population technically resides within one enormous building. Early years of Eleutheria are poorly documented; it is believed that a settlement existed prior to the development of advanced technology, but almost all evidence of it has since been lost. It is unclear when exactly the settlement's complex economy and technologies came into being, but it is known that they have been present for at least two or three generations. Reaching out to contacts elsewhere and spreading a steam-based form of transportation allowed the new settlement to grow rapidly, resulting in the haphazard construction found there today. 93% of the population consists of immigrants from other lands, and that the remaining 7% are various local nomads who have chosen to assimilate. Etymology Officially, the Zone does not have a proper name. It merely consists of a number of communities within the Schizics and surrounding industrial zones, all with their own names. The word "Schizics" itself stems from a word meaning referring to the tendency to split into many paths, applied to the main building of the Zone due to its byzantine pathways and labyrinthine alleys. The entire Zone is often referred to as "Eleutheria" in documentation by various organizations and individuals both for ease of reference and because of a fostered sense of identity between constituent communities; the word Eleutheria is believed to derive from the name of an ancient goddess representing the personification of liberty and freedom. Politics Eleutheria lacks a "government" in the traditional sense of the word. There is no centralized authority which claims the right to kill, torture, and extort people for money and slave labor like in most other societies. Instead, peace is maintained by a social contract between the peoples of the Schizics, which they understand to mean that peaceful competition allows all flourish; in the event where the contract is broken, private firms exist which allow people to punish those responsible, although the breaker may also defend themselves as is their right. Each community could be said to be "run" by the wealthiest individuals within it, as well as outside firms which influence it. Direct democracy consisting of people from individual districts of a community voicing their opinions and voting on matters is also prevalent in some communities. Power is most thoroughly concentrated within the community of Vanderbilt. Factions A number of factions, frequently organized around corporate or community lines, exist within the Zone. Arcadia Free State "Break the chains!" An anarcho-syndicalist rebel group which has seized control of the agriculture-based community of Arcadia within the Schizics. Advocating for the workers seizing the means of production and reconstructing society around trade unions and worker democracy. The movement is led by Ulysses Z. Foster, a noted social commentator and political scientist, who advocates sowing dissent within the rest of the Zone to bring about revolution. It has been in an extended siege against various firms who have sealed off Arcadia's access to the outside for nearly seven months. Kojote Synergistics "Forward, together!" An engineering, medical, and research firm run by none other than Michael Donauf, specializing in hard/software development for analytical-difference engines, alchemical experimentation, and ontological/causal magicks and research. As the main manager of the Diaplex and infofarms, Kojote is the main purveyor of big data within the Zone, and much of its operation revolves around the use and improvement of their engines and the application of them into other fields, such as fabrication of lifethreads and chemical production. Stag MFG "Higher, further." Led by Ryan McCarthy, Stag MFG represents the single largest manufacturing entity in the Zone, focusing namely on heavy machinery and mass production of simple parts. Technology Development within the Zone is quite advanced compared to the surrounding region, featuring electric lights, indoor plumbing, and steam-driven transportation which permeate the lives of most residents of the Schizics. Large-scale manufacturing centers have been developed. Of particular note is the presence of mechanical computers and the Diaplex; incredibly complex engines are able to preform equally complex and intensive tasks, and have given rise to an interconnected network of engines which are able to communicate, store and display data, and carry out various instructions. Advancement throughout Eleutheria is spurred along by virtually nonexistent limits on ethical restraints regarding research and the inability of a central authority to suppress thoughts and inventions which threaten it.